Congress leader Salman Khursheed on Tuesday said party members and workers wanted their president Sonia Gandhi to become prime minister.

"It is not acceptable to us," he said. If she opts out it will "crush sentiments" of the Congress workers, he said in New Delhi.

Khursheed said Gandhi had "fought" and had been "vindicated".

He criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party for its anti-Gandhi tirade and questioned the "silence" of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee over the issue. "He is the head of the party. It is his duty to control his group."

Congress spokesman Tom Vadakkan, meanwhile, dismissed as rumours reports that Gandhi was reluctant to be PM.

"This is just speculation. I have not heard officially of anything of this sort," he said.